India Trip - Prologue: Why India?

A few years ago a trip to the ‘sub continent’ was not even on my radar as a possible destination. If truth be told I am not sure why it became one, Incredible India! as the advertising goes kind of grew in my noggin’ as a place to visit, at least once.

It’s such a massive place that it didn’t matter about planning so much. However long you came here or where ever you end up, you can but scratch the surface of this vast country. So with that in mind, planning came down to booking the cheapest decent flight I could find (by decent I mean not involving Air France). I therefore ended up in Delhi, flying with Emirates via Dubai, yet again. After seeing some of the Commonwealth Games mess I was not sure what to expect, but at least I knew it would be cooler by then. I am at a loss to know why they held the Games then, when the outdoor temperatures were so high (in the 40Cs for the Marathon, stupid).

So why did India come into the running for me, when there are so many other places I also want to go (still haven’t done Vietnam, not to mention south and central Americas, or north America too). Well, the history of the place with the melting pot of peoples, religions, and architecture make it a fascinating place. The place is awash with forts, palaces, temples and people. Oh yeah, awash with people. Nearly forgot.... curry! My beloved curry. India definitely does have some stuff going for it.

Flying first to Delhi it was clear, after cursory research, that a tour around Rajasthan was the way to go. Sandwiched by Delhi and throwing in a nice tasty morsel of Goa, the trip would seem to make itself. Of course I had to pop to one more state, just to the east of Rajasthan and south of Delhi, as it would have been unforgivable not to visit the Taj Mahal while so close - so Uddar Pradesh for one night then.

My total Indian experience is to comprise some 34 nights, with 14 in Rajasthan (including Agra), 11 in Goa and 9 in Delhi over the three times I would pass through the place.

I will post when I get the chance, but early indications are that wi-fi is sporadic at best, so not good for me at this stage. Also a bit worrying for India as one of the upcoming BRIC countries - how could wi-fi be easier to find in Borneo than in a supposed future power house of the world's economy?

I won’t post many photos here as it is not the forum for them, but there will be plenty (too many) on my mobile.me site at:

gallery.me.com/zevonesque